Magnetic tape is a well-known removable storage medium for storing customer data. Magnetic tape drives are provided to read and write data with respect to the removable magnetic tape. It is considered advantageous to have increased data storage capacity with respect to a removable magnetic tape, for example, by providing thinner and longer magnetic tape. Magnetic tape tends to be relatively smooth, as do the magnetic tape heads for reading and writing data with respect to the magnetic tape. Thinner magnetic tape may also be smoother. An effect of smoother magnetic tape is that under some conditions the magnetic tape tends to stick to the tape head when the magnetic tape is stopped in the tape path. The tape is stopped, for example, during a wait time between commands to move the tape. A tape stick condition occurs when the air is squeezed out from between the magnetic tape and the tape head, a well-known effect of smooth to smooth surfaces, tending to hold the tape to the tape head.